Impeller mounting assembly



April 29, 1941. A. L. BAKER 2,240,238

IMPELLER MOUNTING ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 27, 1939 INVENTOR A.L.Balcer 5 4 Patented A... 29, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IMPELLER MOUNTING ASSEMBLY Albert L. mm, Sacramento, Calif.

Application February 21, 1939, Serial No. 258,594

5 Claims.

This invention relates to a blower of the squirrel cage type, which comprises essentially a driven shaft and a plurality of vanes disposed parallel to the shaft and extending about a circle concentric with the shaft.

The main object of my invention'is to provide a mounting means for the impeller blades or vanes so arranged that manufacturing and assembling operations are facilitated and may be very quickly effected with a corresponding saving in labor expense. I g

Another object is to so mount the vanes that they project radially out for their full radial extent from their supporting members, thus giv ing a greater efliciency than blowers of corresponding size but whose vanes are shroudedat their ends, as is at present customary. Also,: m y improved impeller as a whole is very quiet in operation. a

A further object is to provide what I believe to be a novel manner of mounting the driving disc in connection with the vanes unit, so that said disc may be centered between the ends of the vanes, and thus allowing air to be taken in to the impeller from both ends.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive deviceand yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

In the drawing similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views:

Figure l is a diametral section of my improved impeller.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view, partly in section, showing the assembling of the vanes in connection with one of the mounting or supporting bands. i

Figure 4 is a fragmentary section showing the initial mounting of a vane in a supporting band.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawing, the vanes l are as usual, relatively long members of curved cross section, and formed at their ends with walls 2 which project from the concave face of the vanes, and extend to the radially inner edges of the vanes. At their inner ends, the wallsare formed with oppositely projecting flanges 3,-disposed parallel to the longitudinal plane of the vanes. At the back, each vane is formed at its ends with a notch I extending radially out from the inner edge of the vane and sloping to a junction with the adjacent end wall 2. The vanes are formed by means of dies, a pair of vanes being 'referably formed at a single operation, inasmuch as the particular form of the vanes lends itself admirably to such an operation, as those versed in the art will appreciate. I

The vane flanges are engaged in abutting end to. end relation between the sides of mounting bands 5 of U shaped form in cross section. From the radially inner side of each band a flange S extends radially out and projects into the adjacent notches l of the row of vanes, as plainly shown in Fig. 4, and leaving an open slot 1 between said flange and the other or outer side of the hand through which the end walls 2 of the vanes project. In assembling the parts, the bands 5 are initially straight from end to end, and the vane flanges are slid into place from either end of the bands. -To facilitate such sliding move ment, the outer side or wall of the bands is initially spread somewhat as shown in Fig. 4. When all the vanes are in place, the spread sides of the bands are hammered down, so as to clamp the vane flanges in place. An additional safeguard against shifting of the vanes along the bands is provided by indenting the metal of the bands into thatof the vane flanges, by means of a punch, as indicated at 8 in Fig. 3.

The bands, which are initially cut to a proper length to exactly receive a certain predetermined number of vane flanges, are then bent to a complete circular shape, and are mounted on other endless reinforcing bands 9, being rigidly secured thereon in any suitable manner.

The unit thus far forms a circular cage, open on both ends, and it is mounted in driving connection with an axial shaft Ill by means of a driving disc unit of special form. This unit comprises a pair of dished discs ll flatly abutting each other and connected together about their peripheral area as shown at I! and whose diameter is somewhat greater than that of the inner edges of the vanes when assembled in circular form as above described. This disc unit is pressed from sheet metal, and to provide a suitable hearing area for the shaft, hub members B are secured in the opposed discs.

In order to mount the disc unit in place, the vanes are notched from their inner edges and centrally of their ends as at ll to receive the disc unit about its periphery. The disc unit is engaged in the notches before the vane mounting bands are secured on the reinforcing bands 0, and the outer diameter of the latterrelative tering with the bands 8. The vane mounting means above described not only provides for quick and cheap assembling of the parts, but enables the vanes to project radially out for their entire radial extent from the mounting bands. The spaces between the vanes at their ends are thus freely open and unrestricted, and this makes the impeller considerably more eillcient than those having shrouded vanes.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as delined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A blower impeller comprising a plurality of relatively long vanes, end flanges projecting longitudinally out from the vanes substantially in line with the radially innermost edges of the vanes, initially straight bendable bands of U shaped form in cross section into which the flanges project in abutting relation and endless circular bands about which said first named bands are bent in contacting relationship and on which they are secured.

2. A blower impeller comprising a plurality oi relatively long vanes, end walls on the vanes, flanges projecting longitudinally out from the end walls at their base, circular bands of U shape in cross section into which the flanges project, and flanges projecting radially out from the radially innermost face of the bands and extending behind the end walls, the vanes being notched adjacent said end walls to receive said band flanges.

3. In a blower impeller of the circular cage type. a plurality of initially separate longitudinally extending impeller vanes disposed in circumferentially spaced relation, flanges projecting longitudinally out from the ends of the vanes, initially straight bendable bands of U-shape in cross-section, and into which the flanges project and endless circular band about which said first named bands are bent in contacting re lationship, and on which they are secured.

4. In a blower impeller of the circular cage type, a plurality of initially separate impeller vanes extending substantially radially of the impeller in circumferentially spaced relation, end walls on the vanes increasing in width from the radially outermost edges 01 the vanes, flanges projecting longitudinally out from the end walls at their base and substantially the same width as the adjacent portion of the end walls, and circular band elements at the ends or the impeller parallel to and engaging and supporting said flanges in relatively non-movable relationship.

5. In a blower oi the circular cage type, axially spaced rotatably mounted circular members having radially spaced concentric walls forming endless slots narrow radially and concentric with the axis of rotation and facing each other, a plurality of initially separate line peller vanes, and flanges on each vane projecting from the base thereof in opposite directions axially oi the blower and extending in a plane substantially at right angles to the radial plane of the blower; the thickness of said flanges being substantially the width or and closely fitting in said slots.

ALBERT L. BAKER. 

